By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
Since Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane were hired by the Buffalo Bills, the duo have shipped out player after player who were not brought in by the pair. On Tuesday, they’ve decided to do the opposite, extending the team’s longest-tenured player in defensive end Jerry Hughes.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bills have extended Hughes via a two-year deal. Hughes will get a nice chunk of change for his efforts, too. Overall, Hughes’ extension is worth $23 million with $19.5 of it guaranteed.
Hughes was a first-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 2010 out of TCU, but he was shipped off to Buffalo via trade in 2013 after only notching 5 sacks in his first 3 seasons. With the Bills, Hughes has had mostly successful seasons.
In 2013 and 2014, Hughes, who will be 31 at the start of next season, put up back-to-back 10 sack seasons. At that time, he was playing across from Mario Williams on the Bills’ defensive line.
Hughes hasn’t put up a double-digit sack season since, but is still highly regarded. Football analytics outlet Pro Football Focus graded Hughes as the NFL’s seventh-best pass-rusher last season, with an overall grade of 88.8. His pass defense grade of 90.4 is second in the NFL behind only Dee Ford (91.1).
Shaq Lawson, who is slated to become a free agent after the 2019 season and who currently starts across from Hughes on Buffalo’s defensive line, clocked in at No. 20 on PFF’s grading scale (76.5).
While Hughes and Lawson do receive high-praise from the likes of PFF, the Bills do need to improve their sack numbers in 2019. The two only had seven and four sacks each, respectively, in 2018. As a team, the Bills had 36 total sacks last season, good for 26th best in the NFL.
Buffalo selected defensive tackle Ed Oliver with their first-round pick at the 2019 NFL draft in an effort to further bolster their defensive front and pass rush. However, the Bills did reportedly decline Lawson’s fifth-year option on his rookie contract recently, despite his PFF grade. The Bills can still work out a deal with Lawson despite declining his option.